Top 10 Richest people in the world

The richest people in the world have a staggering amount of wealth — comparable to the GDP of small countries for some. Many of the world’s richest, like Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos or Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, are self-made and turned an idea into a billion-dollar fortune. For others, like the Koch brothers of Koch Industries, their businesses were inherited, but all the same, let’s read on the Top 10 Richest people in the world.

1. Jeff Bezos

Top 10 Richest people in the world

Responsible for the growth of online shopping and e-commerce, Jeff Bezos made his fortune by founding Amazon.com. The 53-year-old CEO of Amazon, launched the retail giant in 1994 after leaving his New York hedge fund job. Initially an online book retailer operated out of Bezos’s garage in Seattle, Amazon.com grew to become the world’s largest online shopping retailer, now worth over $430 billion, according to CNBC.

Bezos also owns a private space company Blue Origin and purchased The Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million. Amazon bought the upscale grocery chain Whole Foods in June for an estimated $13.7 billion.

Bezos’s parents, Jackie and Mike Bezos, operate the Bezos Family Foundation, which supports youth education.

Net worth: $112 billion

2. Bill Gates

Top 10 Richest people in the world

Born in Seattle, Gates used his first computer in 1967 while a kid in school. And about a decade later, he and his childhood friend Paul Allen, who also developed an interest in computers at their school, co-founded Microsoft together in 1975.

He was Microsoft’s CEO until 2000, and was the company’s chairman and largest shareholder until 2014. Gates is still a member of the board and serves as a technology adviser for the company.

Gates and his wife, Melinda, co-chair the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the world’s largest private charity. The foundation, launched in 1999, focuses on ending infectious diseases around the world, including HIV and malaria.

Outside of Microsoft, Gates is a public figure who, along with Warren Buffett and Mark Zuckerberg, founded “The Giving Pledge” to encourage other billionaires to donate a hefty amount of their wealth to charity. His charitable foundation focuses on health and development issues across the world.

An influential figure, the 61-year-old also releases a list of his favorite books each year.

Net worth: $90 billion

3. Warren Buffett

Top 10 Richest people in the world

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is an iconic figure and investment genius who bought his first stock when he was just 11 years old and filed his first taxes at age 13. Nicknamed the Oracle of Omaha, Buffett owns more than 60 companies.

One of the world’s best investors, Warren is also known for his cheap spending habits. In the recently released HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett, the 86-year-old billionaire said he typically pays under $4 for breakfast from McDonald’s each morning.

Like his peers, Buffett is a philanthropist and has vowed to give away 99% of his wealth.

Net worth: $84 billion

4. Bernard Arnault

Top 10 Richest people in the world

Bernard Arnault is responsible for many of the world’s most fashionable brands, including Bulgari, Louis Vuitton, Dom Perignon and Sephora. The French billionaire is the chairman and CEO of LVMH, which is the largest luxury goods company in the world.

The 68-year-old began his career as a civil engineer and gained control of his family parent company, Groupe Arnault. In the 1980s, he bought fashion brand Christian Dior — a move that avoided bankruptcy for the brand.

Though he hasn’t cracked the top 10 in several other rankings, Arnault’s wealth grew by more than $5 billion in late April 2017 when he announced he would take full control of Christian Dior, Forbes reported.

Arnault is an art collector and created the Paris-based Foundation Louis Vuitton, which supports artistic creation in France.

Net worth: $72 billion

5. Mark Zuckerberg

Top 10 Richest people in the world

Mark Zuckerberg was only a sophomore at Harvard University when he created the first version of Facebook in 2004. The social media powerhouse, which first began on college campuses, now has more than 1.2 billion users and dozens of offices located around the world. The company is now worth $400 billion.

Zuckerberg, the youngest of the world’s top billionaires at 33, is the chairman and CEO of Facebook in addition to being its co-founder. The 2011 award-winning film The Social Network was based off of Zuckerberg’s founding of Facebook while in school, and the subsequent drama that came as a result.

Like other billionaires, Zuckerberg is a philanthropist who has donated millions to charitable causes. He and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged to donate 99% of their wealth through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Net worth: $71 billion

6. Amancio Ortega

Amancio Ortega is a Spanish self-made billionaire best known for founding Inditex fashion group, which includes Zara clothing stores. The richest man in Europe, Ortega co-founded Inditex in 1975 with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera, who passed away in 2013.

Ortega, 81, is also the wealthiest retailer in the world and owns 59% of Inditex, which operates 7,000 stores worldwide. He stepped down as chairman of the company in 2011.

His approach to his company’s success can be attributed to two factors: speed and customers. Oretga’s “fast fashion” philosophy included refreshing the stock at Zara stores twice a week, CNBC reported. And instead of focusing on what’s in at fashion shows, the company follows bloggers and customers for what they’re wearing to inform what is sold.

Unlike other billionaires, Ortega has stayed out of the public eye. In fact, no photograph of him was ever published until 1999.

Net worth: $70 billion

7. Carlos Slim Helu

Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helú is the richest person in Mexico, and owns more than 200 companies in industries ranging from banking to retail to telecommunications. The 81-year-old owns America Movil, the largest mobile phone company in Latin America, as well as the Grupo Carso conglomerate company, which includes a host of retailers and restaurants, among other companies.

Slim’s father immigrated to Mexico from Lebanon with his family before Slim was born and had several successful retail and real estate businesses. Slim inherited the businesses after his father’s death in 1953, and founded his his first company, insurance company Inversora Bursatil, after he graduated from college in the early 1960s.

His influence extends outside of Mexico as well. He now owns 17% of the New York Times — the largest individual shareholder of The Grey Lady.

Slim is a philanthropist, but has criticized other billionaires for giving their money to charity. Instead, Slim has said company leaders need to “create companies” rather than “give away companies.”

Net worth: $67.1 billion

8. Charles and David Koch (tied)

Charles Koch, 81, is the CEO, chairman and co-owner of Koch Industries, the second-largest private company in the United States.

Top 10 Richest people in the world

Both he and his brother, 77-year-old David —the company’s executive vice president — each own 42% of the conglomerate, which produces brands like Dixie Cup, Quilted Northern paper towels and Stainmaster carpet cleaner. The two brothers inherited the Wichita, Kansas-based company from their father.

The conservative Koch brothers use their deep pockets to influence politics and public policy through an expansive network. Koch-aligned networks like Americans for Prosperity gave rise to the libertarian movement, and the brothers have spent hundreds of millions backing politicians and influencing policy.

In fact, their network planned to spend $889 million just on the 2016 election, the New York Times reported. In 2012, the network spent under $400 million.

Net worth: $60 billion each

9. Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison, the founder, chairman and former CEO of software company Oracle, came from humble beginnings.

The 72-year-old billionaire founded his company in 1977, having never taken a computer science class in his life, according to the Smithsonian. He moved from Chicago to California after dropping out of college (twice), and worked several jobs where he learned about computer programming, including one where he helped build a database for the CIA.

He and two co-workers left the company to found Oracle, which became the world’s most popular database. He was the highest-paid executive in the United States before he stepped down as CEO in 2014, the Wall Street Journalreported.

Ellison has already given millions to charity and education, and plans to give away billions.

But he’s also spent his wealth in more luxurious ways as well. He has millions of dollars worth of real estate around the world, including the entire island of Lanai in Hawaii.

Net worth: $58.5 billion

10. Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg wears many hats: CEO, philanthropist and politician.

In 1981, he launched Bloomberg L.P., an information technology and media company that has now grown to be worth $45 billion with more than 100 offices worldwide. He was a partner at Salomon Brothers, a Wall Street investment bank, before he started his own company.

As a philanthropist, Bloomberg has donated $5 billion of his wealth to contribute to certain causes that align with his political interests, including gun control and climate change.

And Bloomberg is an experienced politician. He served three terms as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. During his tenure as mayor, he commuted to work at City Hall from his home on the Upper West Side by taking the New York City subway every day.

He also considered running as an independent in the 2016 presidential election, and has said he does not plan to run for the highest U.S. office in the future.

Net worth: $50 billion

This list constitutes the top 100 richest people in the world currently in 2018 according to Forbes. American technology entrepreneur Jeff Bezos who owns Amazon tops the list as you can see above and below, Microsoft founder Bill Gates unarguably occupies the second position while the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett takes the third richest man in the world position. It might interest you to know that Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote is at number 100 with an estimated net worth of $14.1 Billion.

Below is a full list of  Top 100 Richest People in The World as of 2018 according to Forbes Magazine.

Rank

Name​​

Net worth

Investment

Country

1

Jeff Bezos

$112 B

Amazon

United States

2

Bill Gates

$90 B

Microsoft

United States

3

Warren Buffett

$84 B

Berkshire Hathaway

United States

4

Bernard Arnault

$72 B

LVMH

France

5

Mark Zuckerberg

$71 B

Facebook

United States

6

Amancio Ortega

$70 B

Zara

Spain

7

Carlos Slim Helu

$67.1 B

Telecom

Mexico

8

David Koch

$60 B

Koch Industries

United States

9

Charles Koch

$60 B

Koch Industries

United States

10

Larry Ellison

$58.5 B

Software

United States

11

Michael Bloomberg

$50 B

Bloomberg LP

United States

12

Larry Page

$48.8 B

Google

United States

13

Sergey Brin

$47.5 B

Google

United States

14

Jim Walton

$46.4 B

Walmart

United States

15

S. Robson Walton

$46.2 B

Walmart

United States

16

Alice Walton

$46 B

Walmart

United States

17

Ma Huateng

$45.3 B

Internet media

China

18

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers

$42.2 B

L’Oreal

France

19

Mukesh Ambani

$40.1 B

Petrochemicals, oil & gas

India

20

Jack Ma

$39 B

e-commerce

China

21

Sheldon Adelson

$38.5 B

casinos

United States

22

Steve Ballmer

$38.4 B

Microsoft

United States

23

Li Ka-shing

$34.9 B

diversified

Hong Kong

24

Hui Ka Yan

$30.3 B

real estate

China

25

Lee Shau Kee

$30.3 B

real estate

Hong Kong

26

Wang Jianlin

$30 B

real estate

China

27

Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr

$29.8 B

supermarkets

Germany

28

Phil Knight

$29.6 B

Nike

United States

29

Jorge Paulo Lemann

$27.4 B

beer

Brazil

30

Francois Pinault

$27 B

luxury goods

France

31

Georg Schaeffler

$25.3 B

auto parts

Germany

32

Susanne Klatten

$25 B

BMW, pharmaceuticals

Germany

33

David Thomson

$25 B

media

Canada

34

Jacqueline Mars

$23.6 B

candy, pet food

United States

35

John Mars

$23.6 B

candy, pet food

United States

36

Joseph Safra

$23.5 B

banking

Brazil

37

Giovanni Ferrero

$23 B

Nutella, chocolates

Italy

38

Dietrich Mateschitz

$23 B

Red Bull

Austria

39

Michael Dell

$22.7 B

Dell computers

United States

40

Masayoshi Son

$22.7 B

internet, telecom

Japan

41

Serge Dassault

$22.6 B

diversified

France

42

Stefan Quandt

$22 B

BMW

Germany

43

Yang Huiyan

$21.9 B

real estate

China

44

Paul Allen

$21.7 B

Microsoft, investments

United States

45

Leonardo Del Vecchio

$21.2 B

eyeglasses

Italy

46

Dieter Schwarz

$20.9 B

retail

Germany

47

Thomas Peterffy

$20.3 B

discount brokerage

United States

48

Theo Albrecht, Jr

$20.2 B

Aldi, Trader Joe’s

Germany

49

Len Blavatnik

$20.2 B

diversified

United States

50

He Xiangjian

$20.1 B

home appliances

China

51

Lui Che Woo

$20.1 B

casinos

Hong Kong

52

James Simons

$20 B

hedge funds

United States

53

Henry Sy

$20 B

diversified

Philippines

54

Elon Musk

$19.9 B

Tesla Motors

United States

55

Hinduja family

$19.5 B

diversified

United Kingdom

56

Tadashi Yanai

$19.5 B

fashion retail

Japan

57

Vladimir Lisin

$19.1 B

steel, transport

Russia

58

Laurene Powell Jobs

$18.8 B

Apple, Disney

United States

59

Azim Premji

$18.8 B

software services

India

60

Alexey Mordashov

$18.7 B

steel, investments

Russia

61

Lee Kun-Hee

$18.6 B

Samsung

south korea

62

Lakshmi Mittal

$18.5 B

steel

India

63

Wang Wei

$18.2 B

package delivery

China

64

Leonid Mikhelson

$18 B

gas, chemicals

Russia

65

Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi

$17.9 B

drinks, real estate

Thailand

66

Pallonji Mistry

$17.8 B

construction

Ireland

67

Ray Dalio

$17.7 B

hedge funds

United States

68

Takemitsu​​ Takizaki

$17.5 B

sensors

Japan

69

William Ding

$17.4 B

online games

China

70

R. Budi Hartono

$17.4 B

banking, tobacco

Indonesia

71

Gina Rinehart

$17.4 B

mining

Australia

72

German Larrea Mota Velasco

$17.3 B

mining

Mexico

73

Carl Icahn

$16.8 B

investments

United States

74

Stefan Persson

$16.8 B

H&M

Sweden

75

Joseph Lau

$16.7 B

real estate

Hong Kong

76

Michael Hartono

$16.7 B

banking, tobacco

Indonesia

77

Thomas & Raymond Kwok

$16.5 B

real estate

Hong Kong

78

Vagit Alekperov

$16.4 B

oil

Russia

79

James Ratcliffe

$16.4 B

chemicals

United Kingdom

80

Donald Bren

$16.3 B

real estate

United States

81

Iris Fontbona

$16.3 B

mining

Chile

82

Gennady Timchenko

$16 B

oil, gas

Russia

84

Abigail Johnson

$15.9 B

money management

United States

85

Vladimir Potanin

$15.9 B

metals

Russia

86

Lukas Walton

$15.9 B

Walmart

United States

87

Zhang Zhidong

$15.6 B

internet media

China

88

Petr Kellner

$15.5 B

banking

Czech Republic

89

Andrey Melnichenko

$15.5 B

coal, fertilizers

Russia

90

David & Simon Reuben

$15.5 B

investments, real estate

United Kingdom

91

Klaus-Michael Kuehne

$15.3 B

shipping

Germany

92

Li Shufu

$15.3 B

automobiles

China

93

Mikhail Fridman

$15.1 B

oil, banking, telecom

Russia

94

Rupert Murdoch

$15 B

newspapers, TV network

United States

95

Dhanin Chearavanont

$14.9 B

diversified

Thailand

96

Robert Kuok

$14.8 B

palm oil, shipping, property

Malaysia​​

97

Emmanuel Besnier

$14.7 B

cheese

France

98

Shiv Nadar

$14.6 B

software services

India

99

Viktor Vekselberg

$14.4 B

metals, energy

Russia

100

Aliko Dangote

$14.1 B

cement, sugar, flour

Nigeria​​